PS4 steering wheels and things

[SGirl]

My son has decided he'd like a steering wheel/shifter/pedal set for a PS4 and/or PC for Christmas. This would be fine, but I know absolutely nothing about these things and I don't much fancy doing battle in Game this close to Christmas!

So can someone please explain to me what it is I need to buy? I've looked at a few Thrustmaster kits, but he's decided he likes one of the add-on wheels so I was just going to buy separate pedals and a shifter as well, but I'm not sure if that's going to work.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations? The Thrustmaster reviews seem to imply there may be some reliability issues, so if anyone can recommend any reliable kit, that would be great. Budget is flexible at this stage because I don't know how much I should be spending to get some decent kit!

Thanks in advance for all help, have a virtual pint!

[SGirl]

Thanks for all the info so far! Keep the suggestions coming. Are these all for use with PS4 only, or can they be used with a PC as well? Thanks for the tip on the Black Friday sale, too - that might well come in handy!

As far as budget goes, I don't really know how much to spend. £500-odd sounds okay if it gets him some decent kit that will stand up to the inevitable hard life it'll have. Ideally, I'd prefer not to go mad and spend into four figures. But he's not getting loads of little presents this year so I'd like to get him something decent that he'll enjoy using.

[SGirl]

Chase car mode? Never even heard of it, he never mentions it so I think it's a safe bet he doesn't use it.

Thanks everybody, some good tips there. I'm going to have a closer look at Fanatec's kit this morning as that seems to be most upgradeable - could be a handy source of future Christmas presents there! It's useful that the Elite kit fits both PC and PS4 - initially he'll be using it on a PC, I think, but he does most of his gaming on his PS4 so it'll probably end up being moved.

He won't be getting a chair and mount yet, although it does look good and he'd love it! I'd have to find a home for the chair he already uses, so we'll have to wait with swapping that.

And finally - mods, you moved this to Video Games for some reason. It's not a video game, it's hardware - hence Computers, Gadgets... Can you shift it back, please? I don't subscribe to the Video Games forum anyway, so I might miss replies. Ta.

[SGirl]

Cheers Hoofy! I've never seen the top one, but the bottom image looks familiar. That must be the one he uses. I don't play - I did try, but I'm rubbish at it.

[SGirl]

Cheers everybody, I'm currently debating the Fanatec Elite startup kit - does that come with everything needed for use with a PC, or do I need to buy any cables or anything? I'll do some more research myself tonight as well.

I'm still 50-50 on Fanatec vs Thrustmaster, but I think I'll go with the former unless there are some really good deals on Thrustmaster kit anywhere.

My son is 14 at the moment - but he's loved cars ever since he was tiny and this is the best he can get until he's old enough to drive on the roads! He's done driving lessons, he's done the supercar driving experience thing, he's offroaded - but no "proper" driving until 17, so until then he'll have to make do with a steering wheel, pedals and some software.

[SGirl]

Okay, an update for you. I've just ordered a Fanatec CSL Elite PS Starter Kit. It works with PC and PS4, apparently, so it ticks all the immediately applicable boxes, and it can be upgraded with better bits later on if he's that way inclined.

So thanks everyone for the advice, much appreciated.

[SGirl]

No ta, the one I've already got costs me an arm and a leg to run.

[SGirl]

This is his only present this year though, he's wanted this kit for ages and I promised he could have it if he didn't mind not getting anything else. So he'll probably be out looking for sympathy once he gets bored with the new "toy".

[SGirl]

Hoofy said:

Didn't he get a birthday present? Isn't that child abuse!?

Of course he got a birthday present! But that was months ago. The present thing seems to reset itself sometime just before Christmas, for some reason.

I see what you all mean about a rig. The parcel is going to weigh 22.1kg, so I will have to look at mounting the wheel somewhere. I was just going to try it on a desk initially - he'll want to swap between PS4 and PS to see which one he prefers, so there's no point in going for a permanent solution until he's made his mind up what he wants to do with it.

In any case, I need to think of something to get him for his next birthday, that's not long after Christmas so it gives him chance to sort out where he wants the kit permanently and it gives my finances time to recover.